The NHL Lockout is still dragging on and if there's one tragic element for us, it's the league taking away the best play by play man in sports from hockey fans – Doc Emrick. We've been keeping an eye out for Emrick's name in the news to see what kind of work he would pick up, if any, during the NHL Lockout. Last month, he called figure skating for NBC. Now, he'll go back to the minors tonight and work an ECHL game for the Fort Wayne Komets with Bob Chase, who Emrick grew up listening to…

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Chase is celebrating his 60th anniversary behind the Komet microphone this season and is partnered by former Komet goaltender Robbie Irons at home games. Emrick is enjoying his 40th career season as a professional hockey broadcaster. Currently, Emrick is the lead announcer for the NHL on NBC and has credited Chase with inspiring him to enter the field of hockey broadcasting. Emrick grew up in northeast Indiana near Wabash and was first introduced to ice hockey while listening to Chase announce the play-by-play of Komet hockey games on WOWO radio.

Fans will be able to catch the broadcast on America One Sports, the Official Broadband & Mobile Broadcaster of the ECHL.

"Although my parents took my brother Dan and me to our first game in 1960 at the Coliseum, I first met Bob at WOWO radio in 1966 when I was a student at Manchester working on a school project on sports broadcasting," Emrick said. "He was very generous of his time that day at the station and has been ever since. To be in the same booth with him and one of my favorite Komets, Robbie Irons, will be one of the most special nights of my 40 years in hockey. It will be funto be a passenger while Bob drives the bus."

This is pretty cool for Emrick to be able to work a game with someone who was very instrumental to his career and go back to his roots in a way. It's also great for Chase and the ECHL and Komets as well. But it's also depressing that the top broadcaster in the sport has to call a game for a team that spells their name "Komets" with a "K!" A bloody K! You don't spell "Comets" that way!

If this is what Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr want, the best players playing in Europe and the best broadcasters calling games in Fort Wayne, well then, mission accomplished.